"And that what I said before you went away still goes. You hear?"
"I ain't deef," said Matthews, non-committal.
"That's all." And Lounsbury went back to his billiards.
The interpreter continued on to the stockade, where he was more fortunate in the delivery of the true message he had brought.
"The white women were not at the winter camp," he said, "so they could not be sent. But your brothers promise to come to save you. Watch for signals from Medicine Mountain."
CHAPTER XVII
THE AWAKENING
That year, in the northland, winter encroached greedily upon spring. The latter end of March, the weather did not moderate. Instead, the wide valley became a channel for winds that were weighted with numbing sleet. Then, April returned angrily, bringing cold rains and blows to check all vegetation.